The country's southernmost city, Kaesong (pop. around 192,000), was the capital of Korea's ruling dynasties from the early 10th century till the end of the 14th (and parenthetically, had to bad luck to become the only city to pass from southern to northern control as a result of the Korean War in the 1950s), So it's full of monuments - collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site - old city walls and gates; a royal palace; an astronomical observatory; a stone bridge; various royal tombs and mausoleums; and Songgyungwan, a complex including a temple, the realms highest institution of learning; in addition to being open to visitors, it's also home to the Koryo Museum of the medieval period.


Bjørn Christian Tørrissen